In every honest state of life men are able to become Saints. You find in your almanac holy kings, subjects, citizens, soldiers, shepherds and laborers, married people and virgins. Our own experience teaches us that bright virtues shine sometimes in palaces, and sometimes in hovels. The Holy Church commemorates, in these days, a Saint who tilled the soil, and, on this account, is held in great veneration by the farming community. Let us, for our edification and instruction, meditate awhile on his picture. In it St. Isidore is represented:

1. In general the celestial spirit.

a. The earth is not our home. Our home is above the stars, "that Jerusalem, which is above, is free; which is our mother." Gal. iv, 26. Therefore the desire of our hearts should be directed toward heaven. "Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on the earth." Col. iii, 2. This desire for heaven is intimated in the picture of St. Isidore, by his joined hands. They are directed heavenward; and as his hands, so his heart. Isidore sought God in all things, devoting to him all his thoughts and offering up to him all his words and deeds.

b. What do we seek? Heaven or earth; everlasting or perishable things; the Creator or the creature? Are we of the number of those of whom St. Paul complains that they "mind earthly things"? Philip. iii, 19. Oh! let us use this world, as if we used it not: for the figure of this world passeth away. I Cor. vii, 31.

2. Especially devout prayer. a. Prayer is the nourishment of the soul; it is the dew from heaven. "As wax, when exposed to the rays of the sun, becomes white, so the soul, who in prayer approaches the sun of divine justice, increases in sanctity and purity." Louis of Granada. St. Isidore was a man of prayer.

I. Let us treasure the word of the Lord: "Watch ye and pray " (Mk. xiii, 33), and the exhortation of the Apostle: "Be instant in prayer." Col. iv, 2. Many say: "I find no time for prayer." St. Isidore was also a hard-working man; still he found time for prayer. If you be of good will you will easily find some time for your morning and evening prayer. Besides, when at work, remember the divine presence, and renew frequently your good intentions. "Do all things for the glory of God." I Cor. x, 31.

1. The toilsome way of making a livelihood.

a. "Cursed is the earth in thy work; with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth." Gen. iii, 17. St. Isidore toiled hard, not for himself, but in the service of another. b. Have you not often complained of your hard work? Remember, God himself placed the spade in your hands; and we cannot but bear the burden of the day and the heat, until the great day of rest approaches. God did not lead his Saints a different way to heaven. Therefore let us cheerfully work for the glory of God.


2. Pious industry.

a. Our daily labor, when done with resignation to God's holy will, and with holy love, is meritorious for heaven. "Labor is well paid for; we earn by it the glory of eternity." St. Jerome. St. Isidore gained heaven by his industry. He worked with a good intention,--for the love of God; and with great diligence,--as in the presence of God.

b. On examining our conscience, we find that many of our works will bring no fruit for heaven, because only selfishness prompted us to perform them; they were not sanctified by having our spiritual eyes turned toward heaven. Let it be otherwise for the future. "Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance." Col. iii, 23.

1. Of the blessing of heaven.

a. Isidore's master saw frequently holy angels ploughing at his side. Where angelic hands labor, the divine blessing is sure to come. Prosperity increased manifestly under the management of the Saint, so that he could say to his master in the words of Jacob once spoken to Laban: "Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands. Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming." Gen. xxx, 29.

b. God is anxious to bless you, too, if you place no obstacle in His way. God does not send His angels into the houses of the quarrelsome, covetous, unchaste, etc. We read: "The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, he shall receive a blessing from the Lord." Ps. xxiii, 4. "Want is from the Lord in the house of the wicked: but the habitations of the just shall be blessed." Prov. iii, 33. Banish therefore sin and vice out of your house, and keep the divine commandments, and the precepts of the Church.


2. Of the intercourse of holy Angel's with men.

a. This truth is contained in the Christian faith. "He hath given his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up; lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Ps. xc, 11. Holy Scripture records many instances of this loving intercourse of the holy Angels with men.

b. How great a consolation! Angels surround us, Angels protect us, Angels assist us at our daily work. "They are faithful, wise, mighty. Why should we tremble? Therefore let us follow them, and attach ourselves to them!" St. Bernard. In a special manner let us venerate our Guardian Angel, and, through his intercession, we shall obtain the abundance of heavenly blessing.

Isidore the Farmer was a native of Madrid, Spain. He was hired as a plowman to labor in a place just outside the Spanish capital. While engaged in this occupation it was not long before he reaped a plentiful harvest of virtues.

His imitation of Christ and the Saints was indeed admirable. He would never go to work in the morning without first seeking the kingdom of God and visiting the churches dedicated to God or to his blessed Mother. As a result of these visits he was often late for work in the fields, thereby bringing upon himself the displeasure of his employer. One day his employer, who had observed the farmer from a vantage-point and was waiting for him in order to upbraid him, was surprised to see two Angels dressed in white, each plowing with a team of oxen, and Isidore in the midst of them. The news of this miracle spread far and wide and thereafter his employer and others held Isidore in high esteem.

His charity towards the poor was so ardent that he used to distribute to the needy the earnings of his labors. Indeed it is related how on one occasion he brought along a crowd of beggars to a confraternity dinner; the others had already eaten and nothing remained but the portion reserved for Isidore. Accordingly the man of God with extraordinary faith began to distribute the remaining portion which by a wonderful multiplication was enough to feed and satisfy all those poor people. Among the other wonderful things told about this Saint, the following is noteworthy. While out on the fields, one hot summer day his employer suffering from a very great thirst longed for a drink of water. There was however no spring or other source of water there. Thereupon Isidore struck the ground with the goad-stick he used to carry and immediately there gushed forth a spring which to the present day has never ceased supplying water in great abundance.

At length in extreme old age, renowned for holiness, he fell asleep in the Lord and was buried in the cemetery of St. Andrew. Here his body remained until the citizens of that place were admonished by God to provide a more honorable resting place for it by bringing it to the church. At that time it was found intact and uncorrupted; it also exhaled a most fragrant odor which is noticeable even in our time. His body was transferred to the church and enshrined in a conspicuous place where God has honored it with striking miracles. More than once the city of Madrid and other places in Spain felt the benefit of these miracles throgh Isidore's intercession. Finally, after almost four hundred years, Isidore now famous for holiness and miracles was enrolled among the number of the Saints by Pope Gregory X.

Grant unto us, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that through the intercession of Thy Confessor, holy Isidore, the Farmer, we may take no pride in knowledge but rather by his merits and example, we may always serve thee with a humility that is pleasing to Thee. Through our Lord, etc.